Rail joint



May 3, 1932.v s. A. SPRINKLE 1,857,007

RAIL JOINT Filed Feb. 5, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l HKQ 1 v r 5. l6 I Q r INvENToR ATTOR N EY 'May 3, 1932-. a. A. SPRINKL. 1,857,007.

31x11. JOINT Filed Feb. 5, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q INVENTOR ATTORN EY Patented May 3, 1932 1 UNITED STATES.

sYLvAnIUs A. SPBINKLE, or man'rmsfnnne, wnsr'vinqmm 1 7 RAIL JOINT Application filed February 5, 1932. Serial at. 591,119.

My present invention has reference to a new and novel means for connecting the meeting ends of railway rails, and ernon my objects is the provision of meanswhich rmly hold the rail ends connected, permit of the rails'expanding and contracting under weather conditions, hold the rail from creeping, which permits of the longitudinal movement of one of the rails independent of such movement of the other rail,-'should oneof the rails expand or contract to a greater'degree than the other rail and which also estabs lishes an effective electric-bond between the rails.

A further object is to simplify and improveithe rail joint constructions upon which I have received U. S; Letters Patent No. 1,839,058, granted on Dec'ember'29, 1931, and No. 1,850,900, granted on March 22, 1932.

To the attainment of the foregoing :the invention consists in the improvement hereinafter described and definitely claimed. In the drawings: 1 Figure 1 is a side elevation of the ends of 25 two rails jointed in accordance with this invention. i

. Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is an end view of the. joint with one of the rails in section.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the chair membersr Figure 7 is aperspective view of one of the body members.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the combined rail anti-creeping and bond members. x V

As disclosed by the drawings my improved joint is arranged between and has its ends, at the lower portion thereof, in contacting engagement with the confrontingsides of ties 1 upon which the ends of railway rails 2 rest and are spiked.

The improvement contemplates the employment of two similarly constructed rail chairs 3, respectively. The chairs are of a length equaling the distance between the ties curvedgrooves (land the outer faces of the chairs opp'osite the grooves Gare reduced in width by :bevelin'g or cutting such faces angularly, as indicated by the numeral 7. The upper edge of each chair .3 is inclined, as at 8,- to underlie'the head of the rails at the opposite-side of the web of such rails. From their confronting ends the flat bottom portions of the chairs are formed witlrdown wardly extensions or plates .9, and these plates have theirlowerends, at, their inner faces, flanged, "as at 10, and the straight ends or faces ofthe flanges are designed to contact with'eachaother-when the chair members are associated to. grip railends therebetween.

The-cha r members are received in a metal substantially U-shaped body. The body comprises two similar right angular members whose outerand upwardly directed flanges are indicated for distinction by the numerals 11 and whose lower or-base flanges are indicated by the numerals 12. The confronting edges of the fianges12 are designed to abut, and there is arranged between the lower ends of the plates 9 on the chair members a sheet 13 of insulating material. Sheets 14 of like insulating material'are arranged between the lower straight outer sides of thGChfilTIl'lBIIla bers and the inner faces ofthe upstanding parts 11 ofthe substantially U-shaped body. There is also preferably arranged between the confronting ends of the rails 2 a filler strip 15 which is shaped to correspond with the cross sectional contour of the rails. The rails and chairmembers; are insulated from the channeled or U-shaped body. a V The webs, at the ends of the rails received between the chairs are eachprovided with a round opening, and these, openings 16 are preferably slightly tapered from-the opposite sides of the respective webs. Before the joint is assembled I wedge in eachof the openings 16 the preferably slightly tapered inner offset end 17 of brass or like metal rods 18 which have a high electric conductivity. The rods are received inthe grooves 6 in the respective chair members, and are extended in opposite directions through said gooves. The outer ends ofthe rods 18 are offset or formed with oppositely extending lug portions 19 disposed in close proximity to but out of contact with the diagonally opposed ends of the respective chair members. The joint is now assembled as heretofore described and the joint members;

which the bolts 20 pass and which sleeves 50,

together with the'strips 14, insulate thebase 12 from the remainder of the joint. The bolts have screwed on their outer ends nuts 23, and when'the nuts are screwed home the sidesll of the channeled or U-shaped body will be compressed toward each other and thus forced toward the lower and .straight side of the chair members 8. Such compression of the chair members tends to cause the outer and reduced portions 24 of the chairs to expand in an outward vertical 1 direction, causing the edges 18 of the sa d/chair members to be forced both upwardly and inwardly with respect to the fishing spaces in the rails to bring allof the rail engaging portions of the chairs into tight frictional engagement with the rails and effectively sustain the tread portion of the heads of the rails in positive alinement so that the sinking of the rail ends, incident to the .weight of the rolling stock passing thereover will be effectively obviated.

' The outer faces of the offset ends 17 of .the

and allow one of the rails expanding or contracting to rail.

It is believed that the construction and advantages of my improvement .will be understood and appreciated bv those skilled in the a greater degree than the other art to which the invention relates when the foregoing descriptionhas been read in connectlon with the accompanying drawings. It

is, of course, to be understood that the roadbed is tamped beneath the channeled body of the joint as well as along the sides thereof. The joint is thus held from downward movement and is prevented from longitudinal movement by contact with the ties 1, which ties are also suitably tamped in the roadbed. Changes in minor details of construction, not interfering with the .scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims may be resorted to. I

(Having described the invention, I claim:

1. In a rail oint, two rail chairs, on which the'base flangesof the confronting ends of two rails rest and in whose fishing spaces the chairs are received, said chairs having their confronting faces grooved, longitudinal rod membersfsecured to the webs of the rails extending in'opposite directions through the respective grooves, and having offset ends disposed opposite but slightly out of contact with'the diagonally opposed ends of the respective chairs, together with means for bindingthe chairs against the rails.

2. In a rail joint, two rail chairs, on which the base flanges of the confronting ends of tworails rest'fland in whose fishing spaces the chairs-arereceived,'said chairs having their confronting faces grooved, rods of electric conductivity having inner offset ends that are passed through the webs ofthe respective rails, said rods being oppositely directed, so that-the-ofi'set end of one of the rods will contact with the body of the other rod, and the outer ends of the rods being offset in opposite directions and directed toward but disposed a slight distance from the diagonally opposed ends of the rail chairs, the con frontin ends ofthe rails having an insulating strip therebetween, and means for forcing the chairs toward each other into frictional contact with the base flanges and the heads of the rails. I v

3. In a rail joint, two rail chairs, on which the base flanges. of the confronting-ends of two rails rest and in whose fishing spaces the'chairs are received, said chairs having their confronting faces grooved, rods of electric conductivity having inner offset ends that are passed through the webs of the respective rails, said rods being oppositely directed, so that the offset end of one of the rods will contact with the bodyof theother rod, and the outer ends of the rods being -ofi's et in opposite directions and directed toward but disposed at a slight distance from the diagonally opposed ends of the rail chairs, the confronting ends of the'rails having an insulating strip herebetween, twopart channeled body in p which the lower portion of the rails is received, means insulating the body from the chairs and adjustable means passing through the sides of the body for compressing said sides and for likewise compressing the chair members to impart a vertical and lateral expansion to the upper portion thereof for forcing said portions into tight frictional engagement with the rails.

4C. In a rail joint, two rails resting on ties, chair members for the rails disposed between and contacting the confronting sides of the ties, means for compressing the chair members against the rail ends, and means fixed on the web of each of the rails extending outwardly therefrom and having angle ends disposed opposite but slightly out of contact with the ends of the respective chair members.

5. A rail joint including rail ends resting on the ties, cooperating chair members affording a rest for the rail ends and disposed i between the ties and in contact therewith, a two-part channeled body receiving the chair members therein, said rail ends being insulated from each other and said chair 1nembers being insulated from the body, means comprising bolts and nuts for forcing the body sections toward each other to compress the chair members against the rails, and means carried by the webs of the rails extending at opposite directions therefrom through the chair members and having angle ends spaced slightly from but in the path of contact with the respective chair members.

6. In a rail joint, two rail ends, a pair of chair members afi'ording rests for the rails and contacting with the under face of the heads of the rails, said chair members having their confronting faces grooved longitudinally throughout the length thereof, rods of electric conductivity having offset ends which wedgingly pass through openings from the opposite sides of the webs of the respective rails and which extend in opposite directions through the grooves in the chair members, said rods having their outer ends offset and disposed opposite but slightly out of contact with the respective chair members and means for forcing the chair members toward each other and for holding the same in such condition to cause the chair members to tightly engage with the rails and to likewise cause the ends of the inner offset por: tions of each rod to contact withthe body portion of the adjacent rod.

7 A rail joint including two rail ends, a pair of chair members affording a rest for the rails, laterally extending means carried by the webs of the rails slightly spaced from the ends of the respective chair members, a channeled body on which the chairs rest and bolt members engaged by nuts passing through the sides of the body below the rails and the base portions of the chairs for compressing the sides of the body against the sides of the chairs, to compress and to expand the upper portions of the chairs toward and against the rails.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

SYLVARIUS A. SPRINKLE. 

